NEW YORK (AP) — Genealogy detectives have discovered that Benedict Cumberbatch, the British actor who portrays Sherlock Holmes in the PBS television series, is distantly related to the author who created the iconic character more than a century ago.Cumberbatch, 40, and the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who died in 1930, were 16th cousins, twice removed, according to the web site Ancestry.com.

Cumberbatch and "Sherlock" return for three new episodes beginning Sunday night. With the British actor rocketing to movie stardom, it's likely to be his last time in the character.Ancestry.com wasn't asked to dig into the backgrounds of Cumberbatch and Doyle, but its researchers love both the series and historical puzzles, said spokesman Dallin Hatch. They haven't told the actor of the connection.

Doyle and Cumberbatch's common ancestor was John of Gaunt, the duke of Lancaster and the fourth son of King Edward III of England, who lived in the 14th Century, the website said. John of Gaunt was Doyle's 15th great-grandfather and Cumberbatch's 17th great-grandfather."Making family history connections is similar to piecing together a mysterious puzzle, one that the great Sherlock Holmes himself would be intrigued to solve," said Lisa Elzey, family historian at Ancestry.

Holmes and sidekick John Watson, played in the PBS series by Martin Freeman, came to life in a novel written in 1890, and were featured in dozens more detective stories.

It’s a sad day for video gaming fans, as Masaya Nakamura, the founder of Namco, has passed away at the age of 91.

Bandai Namco made the official statement earlier today, although Nakamura actually passed away last week, on January 22nd.

Nakamura began Namco back in 1955 as Nakamura Manufacturing, a company that specialized in making amusement park rides. However, in 1958, he renamed it Nakamura Amusement Machine Manufacturing Company, or Namco for short.

However, the company would hit its stride when it entered the video game division, making a number of classics like Pac-Man, Galaga and Dig-Dug, amongst countless others. It would continue this stride into the 90’s with entries in the home market, including ports of popular arcade games like Time Crisis and Ridge Racer, along with various entries in the Tekken franchise.

Nakamura’s company merged with Bandai in 2005, creating Bandai Namco Games in the process and revolutionizing third party releases across a number of categories, including anime-based games and arcade-style titles.

This year looks to be a strong one for the company as well, with Tekken 7 set to release this June, and other releases on the way as well.Our sympathy goes out to Nakamura’s family and peers. He will be missed.

The Canadian prime minister tweeted on Saturday morning that he's ready for a rematch with the Friends star, who beat him up once when they attended elementary school at Rockcliffe Park Public School in Ottawa.

I've been giving it some thought, and you know what, who hasn't wanted to punch Chandler? Trudeau, 45, wrote. How about a rematch @MatthewPerry?

Perry, who is half-Canadian, recounted their original fight during a visit to Jimmy Kimmel Liveon March 15.

Although the 47-year-old actor was in fifth grade at the time - and a few years ahead of Trudeau - he was envious of the boy.

My friend Chris Murray, who was also in the fifth grade in Canada, reminded me that we actually beat up Justin Trudeau, he told Kimmel, 49. We both beat him up. I think he was excelling in a sport that we weren't so it was pure jealousy.

I think he was the only kid in school that we could beat up, he said, adding, You know, I'm not bragging about this, this is terrible. I was a stupid kid, I didn't want to beat him up. In fact, I think at one point I tried to turn it into love play.

Trudeau assumed office in November 2015. Looking back on it, Perry credits his alleged knockdown or the prime minister's success.

I think it was rather instrumental in him ... going to such great heights and becoming the prime minister, Perry told Kimmel of the alleged knockdown. I think he said, 'I'm gonna rise above this and I'm gonna become prime minister.'

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the Rick and Morty season 3 premiere that aired last night.

After creating fake memories, transporting his intelligence from body to body, and playing brutal mindgames on Morty, Rick Sanchez concluded last night’s early April Fool’s Rick and Morty season premiere by explaining his motivations: revenge on son-in-law Jerry, and a craving for the sweet, sweet Szechuan sauce that McDonald’s introduced as a tie-in to Disney‘s Mulan. And no, this wasn’t a made-up pop-culture joke: as you can see in the commercial above, it was a real thing.

You have to wonder what Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., which ran a massive rebranding ad mid-show to demonstrate a new move away from sexy commercials, thought about the fact that McDonald’s seems to have gotten a bigger pop-culture boost, presumably without paying for it. Fans are already starting petitions for McDonald’s to bring back the sauce, and you can sign online if you agree–they’re pretty close to the 7,500 goal last time we checked.

While the Golden Arches might not do such a thing because a cartoon aimed at adults asked, it bears repeating that there is a live-action remake of Mulan coming from Disney, and while it reportedly won’t feature any songs, nobody has ruled out fast food tie-ins. It’s almost like some sort of cosmic convergence.

Perhaps the bigger question, though, is why aren’t people talking about Shoney’s, which was revealed as Rick’s mental safe space? They’re tougher to find in many parts of the country, but totally worth the search. A tie-in menu is probably too much to hope for when your lead character is always belching up green drool and has a friend named Mr. Poopybutthole, but we can dream. Ooo-wee!

John Simm will return as the Master to battle the Doctor (Peter Capaldi), new companion Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie) and Nardole (Matt Lucas) in the forthcoming series of Doctor Who.

John Simm says: “I can confirm that it’s true, thanks to the power of time travel I’m back. It’s always a pleasure to work with this great team of people and I can’t wait for you all to see what the Master gets up to in the next series. “

Steven Moffat, writer and executive producer, says: "Nothing stays secret for long on Doctor Who but you'll have to wait a little bit longer to see exactly what the Master is up to and how he makes his return to face the Doctor. It’s been a huge pleasure to have fan favourites John Simm and Michelle Gomez face to face in the same role! It’s not often you get to see a solo personality clash."

John Simm was last seen as the Master on New Year’s Day 2010. Viewers will have to wait to see exactly when and how the Master will return to the new series, which starts on Saturday 15 April at 7:20pm on BBC One.

As previously announced, Doctor Who series 10 will also star Michelle Gomez as Missy – a later regeneration of the Master. Other returning foes include the Daleks, the Ice Warriors and – returning for the first time in over 50 years – the Mondasian Cybermen. An exciting line up of new faces and adversaries will debut across the series, including adorable-but-deadly Emojibots and David Suchet as the Landlord.

LONDON — Tim Pigott-Smith, a versatile British actor who recently played Prince Charles on stage and screen, has died at the age of 70.

The actor's agent, John Grant, says Pigott-Smith died Friday. Grant called him "one of the great actors of his generation ... a gentleman and a true friend."

Pigott-Smith was already a veteran of stage and screen when he came to international attention as a sadistic police officer in British-controlled India in the 1980s miniseries "The Jewel in the Crown."

The show became a global sensation, and Pigott-Smith said it "changed my life."

Born in Rugby, central England in 1946, Pigott-Smith trained at the Bristol Old Vic theater school and built up a diverse career on stage, television and film. He became a regular on British TV screens in everything from "Doctor Who" to "Downton Abbey," and had roles in movies including "V for Vendetta," ''Gangs Of New York" and the James Bond thriller "Quantum Of Solace."

He is due to appear onscreen with Judi Dench in Stephen Frears' historical drama "Victoria and Abdul," due for release in Britain in September.

He recently won Olivier and Tony award nominations for the London and New York runs of the play "King Charles III," which imagines disastrous events after the current heir to the British throne becomes king. He reprised the role for a TV adaptation.

Roger Moore, the handsome English actor who appeared in seven films as James Bond and as Simon Templar on “The Saint” TV series, has died in Switzerland after a short battle with cancer. He was 89.

His family issued an announcement on Twitter: “It is the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated.”

Moore appeared in more official Bond pics than his friend Sean Connery over a longer period of time, and while Connery’s fans were fiercely loyal, polls showed that many others favored Moore’s lighter, more humorous take on 007.

In 1972, Moore was asked to join Her Majesty’s Secret Service. He took on the mantle of 007 for 1973’s “Live and Let Die,” which would lead to six more turns as England’s top spy. In addition to reviving the franchise at the B.O. after waning prospects at the end of Connery’s run, the new James Bond relied on more humor in stories that cranked up the camp.

Moore as Bond began to shake off the Connery comparisons and pick up speed after 1977’s “The Spy Who Loved Me” launched the series into super-blockbuster status, raking in $185.4 million worldwide. Next up, the outer space-traveling “Moonraker” (1979) cumed $202 million and 1981’s “For Your Eyes Only” took $194 million.

“Octopussy” (1983) marked a downward turn in the franchise’s fortunes, with B.O. of $183.7 million, and 1985’s “A View to a Kill” saw the actor ready to surrender his license to kill, taking in a little over $150 million.

The young actor came to the U.S. in 1953. MGM signed him to a contract and he received supporting work on several pictures. He played a tennis pro in 1954’s “The Last Time I Saw Paris,” with Elizabeth Taylor. The role was one of several in the ’50s that hinged on his tall, athletic good looks. He would often play royalty or military characters.

Moore had his first taste of smallscreen stardom from 1956-58 as the lead, Sir Winfred, in ITV’s “Ivanhoe.” While still drawing film roles, he would continue to star in TV programs, following “Ivanhoe” with short-lived ABC Western “The Alaskans” and replacing James Garner in “Maverick” in 1960-61 (Moore played British cousin Beau Maverick). By the time he arrived on “Maverick,” its popularity was waning, but Moore won over the cast and crew with his good humor and charm, on-set qualities for which the actor would be known throughout his career.

In 1962, Moore began playing one of the roles that would define his celebrity, dashing thief Simon Templar, who would steal from rich villains each week on “The Saint.” The show ran 118 episodes, transitioning from B&W to color and finally wrapping in 1969. The British skein initially ran in syndication in the States but was part of NBC’s primetime schedule from 1967-69.

Stories would feature exotic locales, beautiful women and plenty of action, elements shared with the bigscreen tales about a certain British spy of the era. Ironically, it was the “Saint” contract that prevented Moore from competing for the role of 007 when Sean Connery was cast in 1962’s “Dr. No.”

Moore returned to the bigscreen with a pair of forgettable thrillers in ’69 and ’70. Despite having sworn off TV, he was subsequently lured back for “The Persuaders.” The show, which featured Moore and Tony Curtis as millionaire playboy crime-fighters, ran only one season; it was successful in Europe but failed in its run on ABC in the U.S.

During his 13 years as 007, Moore landed feature roles in other actioners, but none that would compete with the Bond franchise. Movies from that period include 1978’s “The Wild Geese,” with Richard Burton and Richard Harris, and 1980’s “ffolkes” with James Mason and David Hedison, who played CIA agent Felix Leiter in “Live and Let Die.”

The actor took great fun in skewering his slick image offscreen and on-, including appearances in “Cannonball Run” and TV’s “The Muppet Show,” in which he struck out with Miss Piggy; in the 2002 comedy “Boat Trip,” he played a flamboyant homosexual with some Bond-like elements, and in 2004 he lent his voice to animated short “The Fly Who Loved Me.”

He also occasionally appeared both on the big- and smallscreen. He appeared in the Spice Girls feature “Spice World,” provided a voice for “The Saint” feature in 1997, appeared in an episode of “Alias” in 2003 and had a role in the 2013 telepic version of “The Saint” starring Eliza Dushku.

Moore did quite a bit of voicework in the 2000s in pics including “Here Comes Peter Cottontail,” “Agent Crush,” “Gnomes and Trolls: The Forest Trial,” “De vilde svaner” and 2010’s “Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore,” whose title was an allusion to Bond girl Pussy Galore of “Goldfinger”; his “Cats and Dogs” character was Tab Lazenby.

He became a UNICEF goodwill ambassador in 1991 and had been an active advocate for children’s causes. In 1999, he was honored by the British government with the title Commander of the British Empire.

Moore was born in Stockwell, South London. Despite health problems, Moore excelled at school and took an early interest in art and drawing. His grammar school education was interrupted by the start of WWII; he and his mother spent most of the war in Amersham, 25 miles outside of London.

In 1943, Moore decided to leave school and pursue work in animation at Publicity Pictures Prods., where he was a junior trainee in cartooning. But mishandling of some celluloid brought a swift conclusion to that career path.

Moore began his long acting career during the summer of 1944, when a friend recommended that he seek work as an extra on the film “Caesar and Cleopatra,” which brought Moore a walk-on role and the attention of co-director Brian Desmond Hurst, who was impressed with the looks of the tall, thin young man and secured him extra parts in two subsequent pics. With the support of Hurst, Moore auditioned for and was admitted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

In 1945, Moore was called up for national service and, after basic training, was recommended for the Intelligence Corps. “The only reason they commissioned me was I looked good in a uniform,” Moore joked of his military career.

The actor’s autobiography, “My Word Is My Bond,” was published in 2008; his other books include memoir “One Lucky Bastard” and “Bond on Bond.” In recent years he toured with a popular one-man show, “An Evening With Roger Moore.”

Moore was married to skater Doorn Van Steyn, singer Dorothy Squires, Italian actress Luisa Mattioli and finally to Danish-Swedish multimillionaire Kristina “Kiki” Tholstrup. He is survived by Tholstrup; a daughter, actress Deborah Moore; and two sons, Geoffrey Moore, an actor, and Christian Moore, a film producer.

Actor Stephen Furst, best known for his performance as the hapless Flounder in Animal House and put-upon rookie doc Eliott Axelrod on St. Elsewhere, died yesterday due to complications from diabetes.

His death was announced by his sons Nathan and Griffith Furst, who asked that fans “celebrate his life by watching one of his movies or use one of his bits to make someone else laugh – really, really hard.” See their entire statement.

Furst had a couple of small credits before landing the part of Kent “Flounder” Dorfman in 1978’s Animal House. He went on to reprise the role in TV’s short-lived Delta House in 1979.Guest credits on series like The Jeffersons, Chips and Newhart preceded his second most-memorable role, as Dr. Axelrod on the groundbreaking St. Elsewhere, a performance by turns comic and dramatic as he was forever subjected to the ire of William Daniels’ tyrannical Dr. Mark Craig.

He later played Vir Cotto in the 1994-98 Babylon 5, and was the voice of Booster in TV’s Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, among numerous other roles. He was also a spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association

The BBC on Sunday revealed Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor for hit series Doctor Who.

She will be the first female lead for the sci-fi series on the U.K. public broadcaster. Current lead Peter Capaldi will leave his role after this year's Christmas special.

The BBC had on Friday announced that it would unveil the new Doctor after the men's Wimbledon final, taking fans by surprise. Among the various names thrown out by bookies as contenders for the Doctor Who lead role have been the likes of Fleabag creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Death in Paradise actor Kris Marshall and even Tilda Swinton.

Capaldi first stepped into the Tardis in 2013 and is set to leave at the same time as showrunner Steven Moffat exits the show.

Earlier this year, Pearl Mackie was tapped to play the first openly gay companion to the space-hopping doc

VENICE, Italy (AP) — The Latest on the Venice Film Festival (all times local):10 p.m.

Director Guillermo del Toro says his Venice Film Festival victory is a vindication of monster movies, science-fiction movies and other sometimes-derided cinema genres.

Del Toro won the festival's Golden Lion top prize on Saturday for his monster movie "The Shape of Water" — a rare victory at a top cinema festival for a fantasy film. The Mexican director says it's "a beautiful encouragement, a beautiful act of love, and I think it is something very necessary."

The 52-year-old director says it has been his "life's mission" to show that genre films can be intelligent, artistic and beautiful. His previous films include "Hellboy" and "Pan's Labyrinth."

Emmy-nominated actor Mark LaMura, known for his role as Mark Dalton on All My Children, has died. LaMura died September 11 from lung cancer. He was 68.

LaMura appeared on All My Children from 1977 to 1989 and made occasional guest appearances through the ‘90s. His character Mark Dalton was the brother of Susan Lucci’s Erica Kane. Lucci remembered LaMura in an Instagram post.

In addition to All My Children, LaMura also appeared as John Doe in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “Transfigurations”. He also appeared in several theatrical productions, Shakespearean plays and The Rise Of Dorothy Hale. He portrayed Oscar Madison in the 2013 revival production of The Odd Couple alongside Jeff Talbott as Felix Unger.

VENICE, Italy (AP) — The Latest on the Venice Film Festival (all times local):10 p.m.

Director Guillermo del Toro says his Venice Film Festival victory is a vindication of monster movies, science-fiction movies and other sometimes-derided cinema genres.

Del Toro won the festival's Golden Lion top prize on Saturday for his monster movie "The Shape of Water" — a rare victory at a top cinema festival for a fantasy film. The Mexican director says it's "a beautiful encouragement, a beautiful act of love, and I think it is something very necessary."

The 52-year-old director says it has been his "life's mission" to show that genre films can be intelligent, artistic and beautiful. His previous films include "Hellboy" and "Pan's Labyrinth."

During Sunday night's two-hour Talking Dead special following The Walking Dead Season 8 premiere, the time frame for The Walking Dead and the Fear the Walking Dead crossover was revealed."I can't say much. All I will say is that it's definitely going to happen in 2018, so that's either the back half of season 8, Fear The Walking Dead season 4, or the front half of season 9. One of those options, but before the end of 2018, big crossover," said The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman.

"We will know more about it sooner than later, sooner than later," added The Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple.Prior to the announcement, speculation ran rampant among fans of the AMC shows. Many suspected Abraham Ford would join Fear the Walking Dead, based on the mentions of Houston in the show's Season 3 finale and a few cryptic tweets from the actor. Others thought certain characters from Fear would become members of the Whisperer group which Rick's Alexandria bunch will inevitably encounter further down the line.

"I love the fan theories. The Abraham one was certainly intriguing and definitely my favorite," executive producer Greg Nicotero said on After the Dead."I will tell you, I've read the first two [Fear the Walking Dead Season 4] outlines, and they're astonishingly good. It really got me very, very excited about the upcoming season," Nicotero said. "I think Andrew [Chambliss] and Ian [Goldberg] have done an amazing job. There's great, great stuff coming up on Fear the Walking Dead next year."

Though Dave Erickson exited Fear the Walking Dead as showrunner following its third season, he is looking forward to the upcoming crossover. "I think it's a good thing for the show," Erickson said. "I think it's something that's going to hopefully galvanize both our modest fanbase and then the much larger Walking Dead fanbase. We'll see what they do. It's interesting because we'd always assumed just because of geography, because of timeline... You can pull anything off but I'm curious to see how they do it."